I’ve read about this new Possible MMDA Number Coding Scheme in the works, via twitter and interaksyon news website. It seems MMDA folks are contemplating on barring majority of the private vehicles in major roads of the Metro for two days a week (currently 1/week) to solve our traffic woes.

Quoting Interaksyon:

Tolentino spoke to reporters at the sidelines of the two-day 11th Asian Crisis Management Conference (ACMC) at Crowne Plaza, Manila Galleria which the MMDA is hosting.

The planned shift from the current two-digit Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP) or the “number-coding” scheme into a four-digit system is just one of the solutions the agency is looking at to resolve traffic woes in the metropolis. The MMDA chief said there is urgency in easing traffic problems in Metro Manila, particularly at the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA), where more than 325, 000 public and private vehicles, or 1,200 per lane per hour, pass everyday.

Tolentino explained that under the planned new proposal, vehicles get barred from roadways not just once, but twice.

In the scheme being considered, plate numbers ending with the following digits will be banned from major thoroughfares on assigned days, as below:

• 1, 2, 3, 4 banned on Mondays
• 5, 6, 7, 8 banned on Tuesdays
• 9, 0, 1, 2 banned on Wednesdays
• 3, 4, 5, 6 banned on Thursdays
• 7, 8, 9, 0 banned on Fridays

Read the full news article at interaksyon website.

When compared to other PH Government agencies, MMDA is of  higher caliber (lumevel-up na sila in my opinion). They made good progressive moves by implementing innovative changes (especially on social media and mobile apps availability). I am just sad that with this new proposal on the number coding scheme, they are back to their good old “band-aid” mentality (tapal-tapal lang muna ang solusyon), as this proposal is definitely a short-sighted one.

I will not post how my officemates, irl-friends and online tweeps reacted to this proposal (but you can read some of their tweets here, here, here and here).

I hope good agencies like MMDA think about long term solutions. For me, a BIG NO to this New MMDA Number Coding Scheme.